Screw retaining screw driver



em. 26, R956 A. W. CARESON 2,523,557

SCREW RETAINING SCREW DRIVER Filed 001;. 30, 1946 fl g; .Z.. E...

Atteys Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SCREW RETAINING SCREW DRIVER,

Arthur W. Carson, Dayton, Wash.

Application October 30, 1946, Serial N 0. 706,692 2 Claims. (01. 145-50) ticularly to a device of this character embodying means for holding a screw at the end of a screw driver preparatory to'driving the screw and to enable the screw to be initially started in the work.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a screw driver which is provided with resilient gripping fingers which will frictionally engage the walls of the kerf or slot in the head of a screw to enable starting of the screw in difficult or inaccessible places.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is eificient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which thesame is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view showing the resilient fingers frictionally held in the head of the screw;

Figure 2 is a similar view at right angles to Figure 1 and showing one of the flat faces of the blade of the screw driver; and,

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the screw driver removed from the screw.

Referring now to the drawing in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates the handle of the screw driver and which, in the present instance is of metal construction .and with the handle knurled to provide finger gripping means for the handle, the handle extending from its knurled portion into a shank 6.

The outer end of the shank 6 is formed with flat sides I to provide a blade of reduced thickness and the blade is bifurcated as shown at 8 to provide a pair of resilient legs 9.

The outer ends of the legs 9 are curved inwardly toward each other and one of the legs is bifurcated or forked to provide a pair of spaced parallel substantially flat resilient fingers l0 and the other of said legs is formed along its longitudinal center line with a reduced tongue I l arranged to enter the opening l2 between the fingers 10 sub-- stantially in the plane of said fingers.

The outer surfaces of the fingers l0 and tongue 2 H are beveled or rabbeted as shown at l3 to reduce the thickness thereof whereby to facilitate the entrance of the tips I4 and I5 of the fingers l0 and tongue I l respectively into the slot or kerf it of the head ll of a screw l8.

In the operation of the device the tips [4 and. I5 of the fingers l0 and tongue II are moved in- Wardly toward each other by squeezing the legs 9 of the blade I with the fingers of a person so that the tips may enter the kerf l6 of the screw and upon releasing the legs the resiliency thereof will spread the tips l4 and I5 to cause frictional engagement thereof with the walls of the kerf and the screw l3 will thus be held while the screw driver is used to guide the screw in close or inaccessible places whereby to initially start the screw in the work.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A screw driver comprising a bifurcated blade forming a pair of resilient legs spaced apart and having their outer surfaces fiat, the outer end portions of the legs being curved inwardly toward each other and normally spaced apart, a pair of spaced parallel fingers at the outer extremity of one of the legs and a longitudinally extending tongue at the outer extremity of the other of said legs in alignment with the space between said fingers and adapted for movement into and out of position between said fingers, said fingers and said tongue having outwardly curved tips dimensionally adapted to enter the kerf of a screw and having sharp edges for frictional engagement with the walls of the kerf and to hold the screw while being started in the work.

2. A screw driver comprising a bifurcated blade forming a pair of resilient legs, each leg being flattened at its outer surface, a pair of spaced apart longitudinall extending fingers on the outer end of one of the legs, a tongue extending longitudinally at the outer end of the other of said legs in alignment with the space between out of position between said fingers, said fingers and tongue being curved toward each other, and reduced tips on the outer ends of said fingers and tongue and adapted for insertion in the kerf of a screw for frictional engagement with the walls of the kerf to hold the screw at the outer end of the blade while starting the screw in work, said tips being turned outwardly and having sharp outer end edges to grip said walls.

ARTHUR W. CARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wood May 31, 1927 Reid Jan. 7, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Nov. 17, 1932 France Apr. 1, 1935 

